A blast of mountain snow and flooding rain is falling over California, the last of a string of storms that brought much-needed moisture to the state yet triggered a deadly avalanche in the Sierras.
Winter storm warnings stretch from the California-Oregon border to just outside Palm Springs in Southern California. Mountain peaks in the Sierra Nevada could see another two feet (0.6 meters) of snow into Friday, days after an avalanche killed eight people on a backcountry ski trip and left another presumed dead.
The storm unleashing Thursday is “the last big flood of precipitation in a parade of systems that have moved through the state and brought all the snow,” said meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center.
That snow has made travel treacherous: Interstate 80 has closed at the Nevada border due to spinouts over the Donner Summit, according to California Highway Patrol. The heavily-trafficked Grapevine pass that leads into the San Joaquin Valley north of Los Angeles County could see up to four inches of snow Thursday, with flooding rain possible in the Los Angeles metro area.
Moderate to heavy snow is being observed across the mountains and foothills of interior NorCal this morning. Travel is highly discouraged in these conditions! #CAwx
Roads: https://t.co/6jnhwJwcfC pic.twitter.com/Sdr5BYbI6n
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) February 19, 2026
The storms have helped ease an early-winter snow drought, which raised concerns about California’s water supply over the coming months. The state’s snowpack — which builds in fall and during winter storms — acts as a natural frozen reservoir, releasing water for drinking and agriculture throughout the year.
Drought conditions have all but disappeared across California, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with abnormal dryness clinging to just a small corner in the northwest of the state.
Topics California